Railway signaling apparatus.



PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

J. WHBATLEY. RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1905.

PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

J. WHBATLEY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 15, 1905.

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No. 810,011. y PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906 J. WHEATLBY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1905.

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W d I J. WHEATLEY. RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY15, 1905.

PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

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No. 310,011. PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906. J. WHBATLBY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15,1905.

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J. WHEATLEY. RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

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APPLIGATICN PILEDMAY 15, 1905.

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PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

J. WHEATLEY. RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1905.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

1R kw- I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAILWAY SIGNALlNG APPARATUS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed May 15, 1905. Serial No. 260,475.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEssE WHEATLEY, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, and a resident of Bridge House, East Molesey,county of Surrey, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signaling Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in railway signaling apparatus;and the object of my said invention is to prevent accidents occurring byreason of the signal not being seen during foggy or other weather and toprovide by means of sound, denoting the state of the signal, whether atdanger or line clear, further, to render it impossible for a train topass over the apparatus according to my invention without the state ofthe road being given by a signal of sound as to whether danger or lineclear. Still further, should a train pass line clear and the signalmanbe taken suddenly ill and be unable to release the semaphore to dangerby my apparatus, on another train approaching it could not pass withoutthe danger-signal being given, though the semaphore remains still lineclear, and, still further, when such signal or sound is caused by theexplosion of a detonator, to provide a means whereby the said detonatorsmay be fed and exploded by the wheel of a passing train or engine orwithdrawn from the exploding position without the intervention of afogman.

In carrying my said invention into effect I mount on and in a box ofsuitable material and for the most part arranged under ground themechanism for operating a bell or gong or for exploding a detonator orfog-signal, said mechanism being automatically set in motion by thewheels of the passing train. When it is desired to give two signals fortrains, then the apparatus is duplicated and the duplicate set at somedistance from the first one. In connection with my said apparatus Ipreferably employ a semaphore and lights working automatically with myinvention, but arranged close to and lower down than those at present inuse.

In order that my said invention may be readily understood, reference isto be had to the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which Figure 1 is atransverse section of an apparatus constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof, but with magazines removed.Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of the disconnecting apparatus, and Fig.5 a diagrammatic view of the installation. Fig. 6 illustrates intransverse section a modified form of apparatus where only one pedal(danger) is used; Fig. 7, a part crosssection on line w* w? of Fig. 6Fig. 7, the continuation of Fig. 7; Fig. 8, a detail view of band andchain and chain-wheel; Fig. 9, a cross-sectional view of the same, andFig. 10 a perspective view of the danger-pedal.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalviews.

In carrying my invention into effect with reference to Figs. 1 to 5 Iarrange upon a shaft a, Figs. 1 and 2, carried in bearings I), one ormore weighted levers 0; each connected by rods d to a pivoted arm 6 by asecond pivoted arm or lever f, to which is attached a pedal or treadle9, working in a guide-block h, fixed or attached to the box or casing i,said pedal or treadle g, hereinafter called pedal, being arranged closeto the rail j, over which the wheels of the train pass, the pedal beingdepressed by the flanges k of the wheels in so doing. Beyond the box orcasing 71 and at a convenient distance I arrange a pedal or treadle railZ, (shown in diagram, Fig. 5,) pivotally connected at m to thenon-movable part not the pedal-rail fixed to the side of the rail Therail Z I connect by rods, chain, or wire 0 to the locking-catch p, Fig.1, in the box *5, which locks the weighted lever c of the danger-pedalg. The unlocking and releasing I of the weighted lever c by the actionof the pedalrail Z is effected in the following manner: The weightedlever 0 being in the position shown in dot and dash, Fig. 1, thespring-controlled catch p engages with the recess q in the lever c, saidcatch being connected by the chain or wire 0 to the weighted arm 1" ofthe pedal or treadle rail Z, which projects beyond the top of the railj, so that on a train passing the rail Z is depressed on its pivots m;but directly the train leaves the pedal-rail the same under the actionof its weight immediately resumes its normal condition, thus withdrawingthe catch p from the recess 9, permitting the lever c to turn toposition shown in full lines, Fig. 1, and in so doing to depress thepivoted arm or lever f, thereby raising the striking arm or lever (gong,bell, or detonator lever) and the danger-pedal g into the positionshown. In the present case I have shown the pivoted or striking arm e asarranged for use with detonators, the same be ing fed from any suitablemagazine 8 by means of the operating rod and lever 25 and u. Thedetonator v (exploded on the descent of the striking-arm a) rests on theanvil w, the same being pivoted at to compensate for Worn Wheelsdepressing the pedal g too far down. The working of the line clear isdone jointly with the action of the signahnan in pulling the semaphoredown by the wire, chain, or rod 2, connecting the weighted lever c withthe existing wire 1.of the signal as worked at present. To effect theworking of the semaphore 2 from the weighted lever, the same isconnected up by any suitable arrangement of wire 3, as shown in Fig. 1.B

such action the weighted lever of the danger is moved and locked, themovement of the lever lowering the dangerpedal. In the same mannermoving the line-clear weighted lever c by wire or cord 0* causes itspedal 4, Fig. 2, to rise, the pedal being kept in its raised position bya weight 5, Figs. 1. and 2, falling and resting on the lever attached tothe pedal. A similar weight 5 also assists in keeping the lever f in itsdown position. On the first wheel of the engine passing over theline-clear pedal the same is forced down. On the last wheel passing overthe pedal-rail Z the same rises automatically and releases thelockingcatch p, and the danger-pedal g immediately rises to danger, theline-clear pedal remaining down unless pulled up by the action of thesignalman. Attached to the rod, chain, or wire connecting the rod orwire of the semaphore with my apparatus is a disconnecting device 6 (seeFigs. 3 and 4) to partly disconnect my invention from thesemaphore-wire, such device consisting of a bar 7, sliding in groove 8under the action of the weight 9 and adapted to be withdrawn into saidgroove 8 by the hinged and hooked lever 10, working in groove 11, thehook 12 of lever engaging the nose 13 of the bar 7, withdrawing said barinto groove 8 until the sides 14 of hook 12.

ride up the inclines 15, thereby'freeing the hook from the nose of bar7, permitting said bar 7 to return to its original position under theaction of the weight 8. On the signalman releasing bar 10 the samereturns under the action of weight 16 into engagement with bar 7, sothat the two bars may be worked together. By this means my invention isfree to act automatically, and so goes to danger immediately a train haspassed the pedalrail, so that when the semaphore is pulled down to lineclear my apparatus is also line clear; but directly the train has passedmy apparatus automatically goes to danger even before the semaphore isreleased by the Signalman. Should the signal be at danger and a trainpass over, then the first wheel of the engine operates theda'ngerped al,giving its warning sound, as above described. r

In some cases I find it advantageous to dispense with the line-clearpedal and simply use one or more danger-pedals without departing in anyway from my said invention. Such a construction and the method offeeding the detonators to the striking-arm or hammerhead are clearly setforth in the following description with reference to Figs, 6 to 10. Incarrying this part of my invention into effect I mount, as in theprevious case, on an axle (1, carried in suitable bearings 11, attachedin any manner to the casingi of the apparatus, which is mounted for themost part under ground, a weighted lever 0, connected to the strikingarmor hammer-head e by means of link (2 and lever Between the point ofattachment of the lower end of the striking-arm to the pivoted lever Iconnect the lower end of the pedal or treadle g, adapted to be depressedby a train-wheel 7:" and to work vertically in the block h, arranged onthe upper side of the casing i in close proximity to one of the rails ofthe road and inside thereof. (See Fig. 10.) The striking-arm I likewisearrange to work vertically in a similar block h close to the other sideof said road-rail. The lever w, carrying the anvil-block 17, on whichthe detonators 'I) are exploded, I pivot at m to the under side of thecasing or in any suitable position or manner and weight the outer end ofsaid lever, and on the inner end of said lever I pivotally mount at 18(see Fig. 6) the said anvilblock 17, so that the same may always presenta horizontal surface 19 for the passage thereacross of a band 20,carrying the detonators v. To effect the feed of the band 20 ofdetonators across the face or surface 19 of anvilblock 17, I mount onpivots 21, carried in suitable bracket or bearings 22 and in line withsaid block, two wheels 23 and 24, (see Figs. 7 and 7,) one on eitherside of said block 17, and connect said wheels together by endlesschains 25 and 26, Figs. 7 to 9, engaging by recesses 27 on their undersides with teeth 28, formed on saidwheels 23 and 24. On the upper sideof said chains I arrange at suitable distances apart pins 29, adapted toengage holes 30 in the aforesaid band 20, and so on the rotation of thewheels 23 and 24 and chains 25 and 26 to positively move the band andits detonators, the same being attached thereon in any suitable manner.The band 20 of detonators o is fed or unwound from a roll 31, carried insuitable bearings or bracket 32 and provided with extending arms '33 toprevent said band from slipping sidewise. Connected to the striking-armor hammerhead 6 by an extending arm 34- thereon I 'arrange a dependingpawl 35, pivoted at its upper end. 36 to said extending arm and adaptedto engage by its hook or nose 37 on its lower end with the teeth 38 of aratchetwheel 39, (see Figs. 6 and 7,) arranged on the wheel 23, the pawlbeing so arranged that on the hammer-head e being depressed it ridesover the teeth 38 of the ratchet-wheel; but on the hammer-head orstriking-arm being raised it again engages the ratchet-teeth and rotatesthe wheels 23 and 24 one tooth, and consequently the band one tooth,bringing a fresh detonator or detonators over the anvil-block 17, whereit or they are exploded by the engine-wheel in passing, depressing thepedal 9, and consequently the hammerhead, onto said detonator ordetonators and exploding the same, giving the danger-signal. To preventthe flash from the exploding detonator firing the succeeding detonator,I arrange on that side of the striking-arm e a plate 40, working in agroove 41 in the block h of said striking-arm, (see Figs. 6 and 7,) sothat when said arm or head is down, the plate 40 is pressed onto theband 20, thereby preventing the passage of the flash to the nextdetonator. As in the previous case, beyond the box or casing and at aconvenient distance I arrange a pedal or treadle rail, pivotallyconnected to the non-movable part of the pedal-rail, fixed to the sideof the rail, said pedal -rail being connected by rods, chain, or wire tothe locking-catch in the box which locks the weighted lever of thedangerpedal, the unlocking and releasing of the weighted lever by theaction of the pedal-rail being effected in precisely the same manner asabove set forth. To give line clear, I provide on the wheel 24 aratchet-wheel 42, but with teeth 43 reverse to the previous ratchet 39on wheel 23. This ratchet-wheel 42 I operate by means of a cleat 44,arranged on a flat bar 45, carried in brackets 46, arranged in anysuitable manner on the casing. One end of said bar I connect by wire orthe like, 47, with a lever in the signal-box, having interposed betweensaid bar and lever the disconnecting device, previously described andillustrated in Fig. 3, for partly disconnecting the signalmans wire frommy apparatus. By this means the modified form of my invention is free toact automatically and so goes to danger immediately a train has passedthe pedal-rail, so that when the semaphore is pulled down to line clearmy apparatus is also line clear; but directly the train has passed myapparatus automatically goes to danger even before the semaphore isreleased by the signalman. Should the signal be at danger and a trainpass over, then the first wheel of the engine operates the dangerped'al,giving the Warning-sound, as above described. To the other end of saidbar I connect a counterweight 48, whose travel is limited by a suitablestop 49. The

bar 45 I provide with a slot 50, in which works the pawl 35 of the firstratchetwheel 39, said pawl having arran ed in its length a slot 51, inwhich works a roller or pin 52, carried by the flat bar 45, so that onthe bar being pulled over from the signal-box the roller or pin 52, byengaging the sides of the slot 51 in the pawl 35, shifts said pawl fromengagement with its ratchet-wheel 39. The cleat 44 in its continuedrearward movement then engages the teeth 43 of the ratchet-wheel 42 onthe wheel 24 and moves both Wheels 23 and 24, through the medium of thechains 25 and 26, backward, thus withdrawing the detonator w from underhammer-head e and from oil the anvil-block 17, leaving line clear. Toremove the exploded detonators from off the band 20, I provide anysuitable arrangement of scraper 53, the band 20 passingto areceiving-tank 54 (from which it is withdrawn to be recharged) and theexploded detonators to one side thereof.

In fine weather the apparatus can be put out of gear by pulling up theweighted dangerlever in any suitable manner, as by lever and wireoperated from the signal-box; but on the release of the lever it wouldat once go into gear and be at danger.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A railway signaling apparatus characterized by a line-clear pedal, adangerpedal, a striking arm orlever and a pedal-rail connected up tosaid pedals and operated by the flange of a wheel substantially asdescribed.

2. A railway signaling apparatus characterized by a line-clear pedal, adangerpedal, weighted levers connected to said pedals, means for lockingsaid weighted levers and a pedal-rail connected to said locking meansand operated by the flange of a wheel substantially as described.

3. A railway signaling apparatus characterized by a line-clear pedal, adangerpedal, weighted levers connected to said ped als, means forlocking and unlocking said weighted levers, means for partlydisconnecting the apparatus from the semaphore and a pedal-railconnected to said locking and unlocking means and operated by the flangeof a wheel substantially as described.

4. In a railway signaling apparatus of the kind set forth a device forpartly disconnecting the apparatus from the semaphore with reference toFigs. 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings consisting of a box orcasing, upper and lower grooves to said casing, rods controlled byweights sliding in said casing, the upper rod being cranked and providedwith a nose to engage the end of the lower rod so as to draw back thesame, and means such as inclines on said casing to effect the release ofthe lower rod substantially as described.

5. In a railway signaling apparatus the combination with thedanger-pedal, striking arm and anvil and pedal-rail of a band ofdetonators and means for effecting the positive feed of said band tosaid anvil substantially as described.

for effecting the positive feed of said band to said anvil or towithdraw said detonators from off the anvil to give line clearsubstantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have afliXed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JESSE WHEATLEY.

Witnesses:

BENJ. TI'IOS. KING, RoBT. HUNTER.

